Life Trace
by false
Summary: Can a Jedi Padawan and a timid technician survive the horrors of the Ishimura? The answer might not be as obvious as you'd think... In a burst of random inspiration, Dead Space meets Star Wars. Does use characters from the game, eventually.
1. Chapter 1

Yet another story I may or may not finish depending on my time constraints. Seeing as I like the way this is going at the moment, who knows. No main characters from the game will show up just yet, thought they will appear later. The Ishimura's status when compared to what is found in the game is also different, so don't come running to me screaming that I screwed up on this aspect, as it is done with something like a purpose. Comments are welcomed and appreciated.

1.

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

The constant, rhythmic sound echoed through the shuttle's hold, louder than the hushed conversations the engineers and marines preoccupied themselves with. The ticking, which had begun exactly when the ship had begun its hyperspace jump, came from a clock placed high above the crew, which Tousa Obinda stared at restlessly with heavy emerald eyes.

Like many others onboard the shuttle she was wearing an engineering suit, with heavy magnetic boots, metal shod fists, and a helmet which she kept off for the time being. The RIG, as her newfound friend Jenessa had called it, was one of the best designed hazard suits her people had ever made. To the designer's credit it was rather comfortable, even with the back displays and sporadic yet specially placed armor plates. To Tousa, it was merely a bulky and overrated space suit with hardly enough padding to hide her naked body beneath it –something which disturbed her to no end, especially with how the men around her tended to let their eyes linger a bit too much on her chest.

They'd lose their hands if they tried anything though. The Lightsaber at her side made that perfectly clear. Though she was not yet a Jedi Knight, Tousa was well trained in the arts of combat and use of the Force. Her master, who was twice her age and experienced enough to know that the galaxy was a dangerous place, had made sure she would be prepared for just about anything.

"Tousa quit staring at the clock already. You won't make it go any faster." Jenessa knocked gently on Tousa's temple, her glove's polished surface reflecting the Jedi's wild purple hair. "Besides, I still have quite a few questions to ask you."

"I suppose you wish to ask me about becoming a Jedi again?" For being only eighteen, Tousa had patience that rivaled that of many Master Jedi. It was a harsh discipline indeed, but she had benefited from it on many occasions. "The answer is still no if you were wondering, just as my master told you earlier."

The bubbly blonde shrugged and sighed, "Oh well. Can't hurt to ask him again once we get to Aegis 7."

"If this communications blackout is anything serious, I doubt you'll get the chance."

"It's never anything serious. Things like this happen, and sometimes they just need an extra set of hands to get things working right." Smirking at the Jedi beside her, Jenessa suddenly let her gaze drift over to the front of the cabin, where one of the marines has just raised his voice a few decibels higher than the other conversations around him. "Mmm? I wonder what they're going on about."

Tousa didn't have to use the Force to learn what the Marine was talking about, as she was close enough to make out some of the conversation if she tried. Regardless, she was slightly offended when she listened in…

"Look, all I'm saying is that I could totally score with her if I tried." One Private Kinsley nearly shouted as he tried to convince the engineer next to him of his superior charms. "I mean, s*** Ethan, you don't even try. You just sit there with your nose in a book while I get all the ladies I want."

Ethan bemoaned his fate internally. What had he done to deserve a seat next to the infamous horn dog of Beta Company? As much as he hated the idea of having to serve with -in his opinion- the crudest man alive, Ethan didn't have a say in such matters. Stealing a glance at his old friend Jenessa, who was staring in his general direction as Kinsley took his volume higher, Ethan waved while a flush of embarrassment crossed his cheeks. From across the shuttle, she stifled a giggle and poked the Jedi next to her, reeling her back into whatever conversation Jenessa wanted to have.

Kinsley hadn't noticed anything, too caught up in his own sexual ambitions to notice the disgusted look Tousa had given him. "Seriously, just a few caresses in the right place and she'd be all over me. It's that easy, I swear. I guess some guys have it and some don't."

Finally unable to take it, Ethan jabbed where it hurt on his annoying neighbor. "Like some guys have the brains to get paid in millions of credits a year," Ethan stated coldly, "while you make what, several hundred thousand if you don't get docked pay for hitting up a general's wife?"

Kinsley suddenly became quiet after that. An angry and dangerous glare from the marine told Ethan he'd stepped over a line that he shouldn't have crossed, but the engineer didn't care for the moment. The silence of his neighbor was quite enjoyable, indeed.

"Yeah, don't mind Kinsley. He's an asshole."

Tousa knew that to be fact already, but nodded in agreement anyway. "Yeah, he is. Who's the guy next to him though? Wasn't he the one you were getting orders from earlier?"

"Oh, Ethan? Yeah, he's my commanding officer. Old friend of mine too, since we went through the academy together." Jenessa smiled happily as she remembered their times together. She frowned after a moment though, as if suddenly recalling a bad memory. "He's too shy for his own good though."

"What do you mean?" Not really interested, Tousa merely asked so Jenessa wouldn't pelt her with another question.

"Well… to the best of my knowledge, he never once dated a girl in the academy, nor did he make any one-nighters with the local girls. Definitely not interested in guys though." She chuckled at the though. "He's really protective and sweet though. Took a few fists for me when guys were getting a bit rough, you know?"

Tousa could only imagine, and unfortunately her imagination knew of a few too dark places. Fear swelled up in her, but she battered it down with a practiced ease. She would never give into fear, nor let it make her angry. "I see. So why aren't you going out with him if he's so nice?"

"Well, in our culture, it's rude for a lady to ask a guy out." She sighed unhappily at that. "It's pretty much stepping on the guy's balls."

That got a chuckle out of Tousa, who covered her mouth with a gloved hand to muffle the noise. "I see… so basically until he gets a spine, he'll stay single?"

Jenessa giggled in turn. "That's the gist of it. Probably has a _huge_ collection of…" A wave of grunts passed through the cabin suddenly as the shuttle exited Hyperspace, several tones sounding throughout the compartment. "Uh… guess we're here?"

Ethan unbuckled himself, standing and heading up a short staircase to the cockpit of the shuttle. The four seated control bridge was hardly roomy, but it served its purpose well. He knocked upon entering, alerting the pilot to his arrival. "Nother, how far out are we from the Ishimura?"

Beyond the clear panes that sealed off the compartment from space, Ethan could see a dreary brown world just experiencing the break of dawn. Upon that world was a crater large enough to have been a huge island. The mass of that crater was now high in orbit, hovering just below a dark shape which could only have been the Ishimura. Nother Sotem waved off Ethan as he took the jump seat behind him. "Just a few klicks. It'll be in eye range within five minutes. Nothing much on the scanners though… The debris field is what you'd expect from this kind of operation, but it looks like they've just popped the cork. I'd expect them to have more of the planet broken up by now, but I guess something big happened. Core shutdown, maybe?"

"I doubt it," Ethan said after a moment of thought. "The core of the Ishimura is supposed to function at full capacity for forty years. The only thing that could knock it out is an Ion Cannon or having two thirds of its control units killed, of which there are a hundred and twenty across the ship. Not likely. Is shuttle one with us?"

"Yeah, just off the bow." Nother gestured out the view screen toward a boxy vessel which Ethan immediately recognized. Both heavy shuttles were of the same make, and each wore an enormous CEC emblem on its side. The shuttle beside them had obviously been recently overhauled, as its rear compartments were brand new while the forward hull had the traditional wear and tear of trans-atmosphere flight. "Altman be praised for the new technology the Republic's given us. With the old junk, we probably would have ended up at opposite ends of the system."

"True, but remember, it was the Republic and not Altman who gave us the goods when we needed it." Ethan said sternly before pulling up a communication program. He had almost punched the open signal button when a secure line suddenly popped up, grabbing for his attention. He opened, guessing that the older diplomat on the other shuttle was wishing to speak with his apprentice. He had guessed right, as in front of his face appeared the visage of an older man, who's long brown hair reminded Ethan of a musician he once knew. The cold eyes the Jedi possessed were completely dissimilar however, running any comfort he could have took in speaking with the diplomat. "Master Fan-Kathen." Ethan nodded with respect.

Fan-Kathen ignored the greeting and got straight to business. "I need to speak with my Padawan about her duties before we arrive."

"Of course sir. I'll have her brought up." Out of Fan-Kathen's sight, Ethan poked at Nother. The pilot nodded and set the ship to auto-pilot as he moved to retrieve the diplomat. "While she's coming, might I ask you why you're both here? Nobody ever briefed us thoroughly about being accompanied by you two."

The older man nodded in understanding. Their introductions had been rushed, to say the least, as had been the news that the Jedi and a few CEC representatives would be accompanying them. "The Jedi council has its concerns about the effects of Planet Cracking, as does the Republic itself. We're here on both their behalves, to see if the destabilizing effect is really as bad as the Republic believes it to be."

Fan-Kathen kept his tone neutral, but from what Ethan had heard the Jedi was heavily anti-cracking. Ethan agreed with sentiments like Fan-Kathen's, but the money was too good to pass up simply because of principles. "I understand. We'll stay out of your way as much as we can, sir."

"I'm glad to hear it." Fan-Kathen nodded. "Ah, it seems Tousa has arrived."

"Ah." Ethan nodded and looked back just as Tousa and Nother walked in. He froze, a bit uncomfortable as the lady looked at him with a rather cold gaze. He didn't exactly know how, but he knew she wasn't angry at him for any reason, and yet there was still something in her eyes which made him wary. Nother didn't seem to notice and took his place at the pilot seat as Ethan gathered his wits. "The comm's all yours, Lady Tousa."

"Thanks." She took the seat next to him as Ethan slid the holographic console between them. She smiled as her teacher turned toward her. "Master."

"Tousa. I want you to stick by mister Niveous for the duration of our stay." He raised his hand as Tousa began to question, halting her. "I know you'd prefer to be by my side, but if we are to get the whole story on this matter, having us both sit by a bunch of politicians isn't going to tell us anything. Stay with the repair crew, and we'll meet together again once this mess is over, understood?"

The young Padawan hesitated for a moment, her eyes dropping sadly. "Yes, Master."

"Thank-you, Tousa. I trust mister Niveous that this will not be a problem?"

Smiling, Ethan gave the old Jedi a thumbs-up. "We'll give her the full tour, given enough time."

"With any luck this won't take that long, but one can only hope. Honestly, I do hope that the Republic welcomes your people regardless of the present issue," Fan-Kathen gave a rather cynical smile before continuing, "but that's what negotiations are for." At that moment, they both looked up as a dark shape caught their attention. Ethan had seen it before, the city-sized space ship that had been built for the sole purpose of cracking apart entire planets for their resources. Tousa gazed at the Ishimura with a slight sense of awe. No matter how many large ships she saw, it was always an inspiring sight. Fan-Kathen too had noticed, but was quick to reign in the conversation. "And Tousa? Be extremely careful. In my meditations I received some… dark visions. My perception of the Force is about as bad as yours is, so who knows what it means, but keep your guard up anyway."

"I understand, Master."

In fact, Tousa knew all too well. She could hardly sense a fellow Jedi, let alone the Sith with their dark abilities, so both had been hard pressed on several occasions to find their objectives. On the other hand Tousa was highly advanced in the manipulation of objects, while her Master excelled as enhancing his own physical abilities using the Force. The two in connection had always worked well together, but usually they left a lot to be desired when dealing with adversaries who also used the Force. Seeing that everything appeared to be in order, Fan-Kathen ended the conversation with a quick, "We'll keep in touch."

As the communications line dropped between the two ships, Ethan let out a pleased sigh. Everything seemed to be going well, until he noticed the Ishimura in detail. "Hey, Nother… You see any running lights on this thing?"

Nother gave it a hard eye. Against the dawn of Aegis 7 it was hard to see much of anything, but even so there were far too many shadows draping across the ship. "Nope. I'm going to get us in closer, see if we can't hail them."

"Right. Be sure to increase the signal, since they're power is obviously low for whatever reason…"

The humming of the shuttle's engines increased as Ethan spoke, Nother pushing them ahead toward the Ishimura. As they came closer, strange signals began to play over the radio, the sounds akin to a deranged animal's mumbling. Tousa shuddered as the noise filled the cockpit. "What is that…?"

"Man, must be a busted array. Sounds bad." Ethan nodded to himself. "Should be able to fix something like that pretty easy, under forty-eight hours I'd say."

Nother tapped out a few lines on the control console, killing the radio feed and letting the shuttles AI go to work for him. "Good to hear, Ethan. Looks like shuttle one wants dibs on docking first. We'll let them go for it and follow in right behind them. Gravity Tethers are engaged, auto-dock procedures are go. Sit tight, folks, it'll be a smooth ride from here on in."

Tousa relaxed into her seat, staring out the window as shuttle one pulled ahead of them. If she hadn't, she might have seen the chunk of free-floating asteroid which hit it sooner, might have been able to divert it with the Force, but she didn't. Instead, the huge chunk of rock smashed into the side of shuttle one with enough force to knock it off course. Upon seeing this, both she and Ethan jumped out of their seats. "Master!"

"Oh s***, that's not good… Nother, what the hell?!"

"I don't know, I don't know!" Nother just shook his head, double checking his own telemetry rapidly as panic filled his voice. "The Ishimura's guidance tether must be offline for something like that to happen! I'm taking us in manually, no sense in getting slammed into the hull!"

Tousa hardly noticed the two men in the cockpit. She watched shuttle one spiraled away from the Ishimura, its guidance thrusters firing wildly as it flailed in space…

"Inside the field? Are you nuts?!" Ethan shouted as several warning alarms began wailing.

Nother shouted back over the increasing noise, "Better than their suicide system!" At reckless speeds, the shuttle careened through the Ishimura's outer structure, slipping through supports and on more than one occasion almost slamming into the huge pylons that made up its outer shell. By some miracle, it managed to make it intact into the docking bay, crashing hard against the Ishimura's inner chambers…


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Tousa awoke to the sound of alarms blaring, the smell of burnt circuitry, and the feeling of Ethan crushing her chest. With a natural ease, she lifted Ethan off of her without moving a muscle, the Force guiding his unconscious body away from her. She set him down gently enough, lifting her own rattled body from the floor with both hands. Tousa was barely sitting up when she noticed the blood on the glass of the cockpit.

"Eh, don't worry about the blood. That's from Nother's nose." Jumping a bit, Tousa turned to find Jenessa tending to the pilot's broken nose and facial bruises. Like the other two in the cockpit, he hadn't been wearing his safety harness when they hit. "And he's lucky that's all he broke. Could have killed him if we'd been going any faster."

"Namb Retrothrubters…" Nother mumbled, his voice barely discernable from under the tissues he was using to stem the bleeding.

"Yeah, be quiet now, you'll make the bleeding worse. You're lucky to be alive, so you should be thankful." Turning from her ward, Jenessa looked over Tousa with a studious glance. "You seem fine enough. Lucky that Ethan grabbed you when he did, otherwise you'd really have been hurting."

Tousa looked toward the still unconscious engineer. He wasn't bleeding, but he was certainly out cold. "Grabbed me? I don't remember that…"

"Apparently he did it right before impact," she said as she scooted over to Ethan's unconscious form, "so I doubt you would have had much time to notice. Cushioned you quite nicely from the looks of it. He'll have a good bump on the back of his head and be pretty sore after a while, but he'll be fine. Heh, and they say chivalry is dead."

"If it's not dead it's certainly in pain, Jenessa."

A muffled moan came from Ethan as he finally stirred. Aside from the throbbing in his head, he felt pretty good for surviving a crash landing. He rolled over slowly, trying to make the world stop spinning before he even thought about standing upright. Though he could hear several voices chatting around him, he couldn't quite make out what they were saying until the fog in his head finally cleared. "…thing is just fine. I'm surprised that we came out as well as we did considering. Nother saved our asses. Shuttle's screwed though, and nobody's coming from the flight deck crew to help out either. Something must really be weird for nobody to notice a shuttle crashing."

"I hate to say it, but your right." Kinsley's voice rang out loud and clear, making Ethan wish he was still unconscious. "Something's up for sure. Any contact from shuttle one?"

"They're alright," Tousa this time, "but their shuttle's got some pretty bad damage from hitting some debris. They won't be joining us until we get the guidance systems fixed. Mmm? It seems our sleeping beauty is awake."

Still inside the cockpit, Ethan raised his head up to see Tousa standing in the doorway, looking over her shoulder at him. He waved with a slight grimace, getting to his feet with a little effort. "Thanks for waiting. Is everybody else alright?"

Kinsley, who was just beyond Tousa, nodded. "We're fine, idiot. Now if you're done lying around, let's find out what needs fixing on this boat and get the hell out of here." Behind Kinsley, his two marine compatriots gave grunts of approval. Sitting around wasn't their style.

Eying Kinsley's armor and noticing a distinct lack of lighting, Ethan chuckled. "Sure, sure. I assume everybody's RIGs are synced with the Ishimura's computer system? First things first after all."

"Uh…!" Kinsley blushed furiously as he remembered that he hadn't; standard procedure was to sync immediately after boarding a vessel for safety reasons. "Yeah? What about yourself?"

"I already synced his to check his bios earlier. Looks like you're the odd man out, so drinks are on you when we get back!" Smiling wickedly Jenessa strolled past him and to the shuttle's side airlock, which lit up with a caution light. "Don't forget your helmet this time either. Dying in a vacuum would suck, quite literally."

Everybody got the hint, though Tousa took a bit longer than the rest to get her helmet on as her long hair gave her trouble. Eventually, she just stuffed it down the back of her RIG and decided to suffer through any discomfort it might bring. "So Nother's staying with the shuttle?" He waved to Nother, who'd taken up residence on several of the shuttle's seats.

"Yeah, he'll just rest until we see what's up. No need to head to medical just for that." Kinsley said as he too moved for the airlock.

Once everyone was air-tight, they moved out into the dock. Immediately, their boots magnetized to the floor of the landing bay. The expansive bay was big enough to hold four shuttles, though only two were in dock at the time. Several doors lead deeper into the Ishimura, though the one lighting up like a candle on everyone's helmet HUD was one with a 'Quarantine' label scrolling above it. Surveying the area, Ethan decided that things were definitely not right in the least. "There should be at least three flight deck crew members here at all times. What the hell is going on here?"

"Yeah, we noticed the distinct lack of people coming down to greet us." Kinsley's voice crackled over the radio. "Let's head to quarantine so we can find out what the f*** is going on."

"I couldn't agree more." Jenessa sounded concerned as she began walking toward quarantine, which was a massive departure from her usually cheerful attitude. "This ship is already creeping me out."

Quarantine was deathly quiet, and still no one had arrived to greet the repair crew and their security detail. Inside the square room, surrounded by glass and dull brown steel panels, everyone huddled together in the center, between two uncomfortable looking couches. The marines shifted around nervously, cradling their pulse rifles and glancing this way and that as Jenessa tried to work the ship's communication system and elevator controls. Unfortunately, it was down as well, and she couldn't override the main gate to the Ishimura's decontamination area without ripping the wall out. To make matters worse, power was out for almost all the systems in the area, with the exception of lights.

"S***, this sucks… What the f***?!" Displaying his colorful use of language, Kinsley jabbed Ethan in his side. "Hey, you can bypass this stuff, right? Get over there and find out what's wrong. The security console is still up."

Ethan sighed inside his helmet. Beyond the glass, he could see the holographic security console among several others. With his suit still sealed, it was permissible to break quarantine in case of emergencies, but there would be plenty of paperwork regardless. "Alright, I'll go." Dreading the paperwork with every step, he moved toward the door and tapped in his ID code.

"I'll come with you, Ethan." Tousa moved up beside him as the door opened, not wanting to spend another moment in close quarters with Kinsley. At least with Ethan she didn't have to worry too much about him trying anything.

A bit surprised by Tousa's actions, Kinsley started to say something about keeping together, but was rather rudely interrupted by Jenessa. "Yeah, you two should stick together. You're technically the highest ranked among us Ethan. Better to have our diplomat with you anyway."

"Technically…?" Ethan grimaced as Tousa stepped passed him and through the now open door. He had a feeling it was more about trying to set the two up together than anything else. He tried to remember where he heard that Jedi couldn't have lovers just too keep any bad thoughts from forming in his head, but failed. "Alright. I guess it's alright. More paperwork, but I don't mind."

"I'm sure there will be enough to go around." Tousa said kindly as the two moved toward the consoles, the door quickly closing behind them with a hiss. As Ethan began his work, she watched over his shoulder as menus began popping open while he worked. Her brow furrowed as a schematic of the Ishimura popped up, displaying several large areas highlighted in red. "Well, that doesn't look good."

Jenessa watched the schematic as well from inside the quarantine chamber. "Yeah… she's taken a lot of damage. What could have caused this all this?"

Kinsley looked it over as well, pointing toward one of the major areas of damage. "Dunno, but it looks like the tram system is offline as well. Getting around is going to be a pain."

A sudden gust of air drew their attention to the ceiling fans, which had just started functioning again. One of the marines, Persey if Ethan remembered right, chuckled as everyone jumped at the noise. "Well, at least the air's flowing again. I'm surprised we didn't notice."

"It's a start." Ethan said wearily. From the looks of things, he would be busy for months, or even years depending on the state of the crew. In the back of his mind, a nagging fear was beginning to grow, as if something were approaching. His body was suddenly seized with the urge to run, to get the hell out of there and just hide back on the shuttle until more help arrived, but he pushed it down. It was a starship. He'd been trained to deal with everything from com-array tweaks to hull repairs. It was nothing he couldn't handle with some time and help from his friends.

The feeling of bottomless fear only increased however, and in fact spiked higher than ever before when the lights suddenly shut off, only to be replaced by several cautions sirens and sweeping red searchlights. This time, nobody was chuckling after everybody jumped.

Jenessa backed into the center of the room, putting herself in the center of the marines. "What the hell was that?"

"Automatic Quarantine must have tripped when the filtration system restarted. Everyone relax." He shrugged helplessly as the sirens continued, trying to unlock the doors as quickly as he could. A few bumping noises above his head drew away his attention however. "What the…!?"

"What the f*** was that?" Persey swung his pulse gun around, aiming at the shadows. "Did you hear that?!"

Kinsley backed away from the glass, getting close to Jenessa. "I don't know, man. Just calm do--"

A huge jarring noise filled the room as a vent covering struck the floor, filling everyone with panic. Tousa reached for her Lightsaber, bringing it up but not activating her blade. Jenessa stayed close to Kinsley, looking everywhere to locate the sound above the sirens. "Something's in the room with us!" she shouted, panic filling her voice.

And then Ethan saw _it_. He saw _something_ rise up behind Persey, long limbs striking down into his back with deadly efficiency over and over again, as blood splattered on the window pane. It was like an obscene shadow puppet show, as whatever it was brutally slaughtered Persey against momentary slices of light. The sound of his heartbeat flat-lining was broadcast to everyone, the monotone signal broken by the sound of the sirens and Kinsley's panicked cry of, "Open fire! Open fire!"

Magnetically accelerated rounds ripped through the darkness, missing their mark as the two remaining marines searched for their target in the darkness. Jenessa, who somehow managed to keep her head on straight as one of her team died, noticed the door to the decon area sliding open. "The door's open, let's get out of here!"

Unfortunately for the only other marine besides Kinsley, the vent above him also burst open as another _thing _fell from above. The man's weapon rolled away, leaving him defenseless as the monster lopped his head off in a single slice, his suit transmitting another flat line signal. He didn't even get a chance to scream.

"Ethan, Run! Get the f*** out of there!" Kinsley yelled as he fired again, backing strafing toward the now open door. Leaving two men dead on the deck and two locked behind the glass, Kinsley and Jenessa were already gone when the marine's head stopped rolling. Tousa activated her Lightsaber without hesitation now, letting its violet blade shine in the darkness. It wasn't much, but it was enough to see that whatever had killed Persey was working its way into the vents again. Almost immediately she noticed the vent coverings in their own section, and a horrible feeling filled her gut. "We need to move."

Ethan couldn't have agreed more. He ran for the quarantine door, but stopped short when he found it locked. It wouldn't even accept his code anymore. The only way out was the service door, which lead into the bowels of the ship, away from Jenessa and the others. "S***! We'll take the access route then! It's the only way!"

Tousa nodded and made for the other door, leading the way with her Lightsaber at the ready. Ethan was right behind her when the door opened, the pair rushing through blindly into the corridor beyond. The lights within were flickering wildly as several pipes on the walls leaked steam, clouding their vision in the already dark hallway. Ethan felt the thing's presence before it slammed down on him from a ventilation shaft, knocking the engineer to the floor as the beast of shadows made its entrance. He rolled over and scuttled away, kicking whatever it was in the knees and causing it to make several inhuman noises as it reared back, scythe like arms raised in the flickering light to impale the hapless engineer.

Then Tousa was there, slashing one of its arms off and knocking it back with her body. "Ethan, get back!"

Needing no further instructions, he moved back as whatever it was considered Tousa for a moment, screaming incoherently all the while. Tousa took a defensive stance, letting her blade shine between them as a warning. That warning went unheeded as the creature leapt at her with no thoughts of self preservation, impaling its chest on her blade for a chance to greedily snap at her throat while pinning her blade arm to the corridor wall. With the weight of the creature preventing her from slicing her way free, Tousa slammed against the beast's neck with her free arm, trying to keep it from digging whatever teeth it might have had into her neck.

Before she could think to use the Force against her foe, Ethan slammed his metal shod fist into the creature's neck, knocking it away from her as Tousa's blade ripped through part of its chest. Neither one said a word as they looked down at the creature, its mass squirming on the floor, still trying to get to the two nearby humans. Ethan didn't give it the chance, walking forward and giving its head a swift stomp that covered his boots with gore. Drinking in deep gulps of air and fighting the urge to vomit, he turned to Tousa. "Are you… are you alright?"

A bit shaken from the close encounter and the feeling of its teeth against the neck of her suit, Tousa took a moment to answer. "Yeah… I'm alright, I think…"

More guttural sounds came from the vents. The two didn't even need to look to know that more were coming, and without further conversation they ran down the corridor, away from their companions and deeper into the hell that awaited them. Stopping only to breath when the reached an open walled service elevator, the two relaxed as the doors closed, partially sealing them off from whatever horror was following them… or so they thought.

With a screech of metal, something forced its long sickle-shaped claws into the door, forcing it open. Both Ethan and Tousa drew back from it, for the first time seeing what they were fighting. Its face was like that of a human, but missing any hair and the lower jaw in favor of a number of tentacles. It was meaty, lacking a good amount of skin as the monster reached for them through the partially open door. Juices from its insides spilled out in gushes from what would have been the mouth, splattering on the deck in huge puddles. Sickened by the sight of this _thing_, Tousa used the Force to slam the door shut on it, the panels acting as blades and slicing its head and arms off as it closed. Only then did the elevator begin moving down.

Holding a hand over his heart, Ethan felt himself shaking. His adrenaline had just spiked again, fear overwhelming him. Just what had he gotten into?


	3. Chapter 3

3.

When the elevator stopped moving, Tousa stepped out first. Her blade let off a soft violet glow, contrasting with the two yellow lights that lit up two corners of the room they found themselves in. It was split in two by a dividing wall, though neither Ethan nor Tousa were really in the mood for exploring it. Her first instinct after their last encounter was to check the room for vent covers, and finding none, she relaxed a bit. The room appeared to be a tool closet of sorts, with supplies littered about. A sparking panel next to the only exit besides the elevator caught her eye, but figuring it was just a shorted panel, she ignored it.

Ethan was still catching his breath. Taking deep breaths, he looked around the darkened room and took stock. There were several medical supply kits, plasma batteries, and various other tools at their disposal. Nothing that could be used as a weapon, but useful regardless. Finally feeling his heart calm down, he leaned against a wall as his Jedi companion looked around. Bringing up his communications system, he tried to contact Nother, Jenessa, or even Kinsley, but the only answer he got was static. Cursing his luck under his breath, Ethan made a not to get back to the shuttle as quickly as he could. If Nother didn't know what was going on, and whatever those things were got to him before Ethan could get back… He shuddered at the though, again recalling his own close call in the hallway. "Hey, Tousa…"

"Yes?" She turned toward him, letting the Lighsaber's blade fall to her side. The cold gaze Ethan had witnessed on the shuttle was no longer there, replaced with a look of genuine concern. He didn't find the change surprising, considering the circumstances.

"Probably not the best time to say it, but I just wanted to say thanks for saving me back there. If you hadn't decided to come with me, I'd have been dead twice over by now." He shivered at the thought of facing one of the creatures on his own, let alone the two that had been after them. "Still… what the hell are those things? They look …"

"…They look almost human." Tousa finished for him.

Ethan shivered again. "Yeah. As much as I hate to even think about it, they did seem humanoid at the very least. I wonder if Jenessa and Kinsley made it out alright…"

Tousa grimaced. They didn't have a Jedi to protect them, which was in and of itself a huge help. To make matters worse, Kinsley was the only one with training and a weapon between the two. If there were more of those creatures around and things got hectic, even her skills with the lightsaber wouldn't be enough to save both Ethan and herself given that she had trained in a very conservative style of combat –something Master Fan-Kathen had insisted upon, as he intended for them both to be more diplomatic in their work than some other Jedi. "Well, it looks like this room is sealed for the moment. I think we're safe."

"Yeah. That door is sealed. Looks like somebody hit it with a cutter of some kind, since the cut looks pretty straight. Only way we could open it is with a welder to fix the circuit, or maybe a Cutter if I tuned it right. There might be one in the other side, since there's a workbench over there."

Mentally, Tousa considered just staying there for the time being. As cowardly as it seemed, it was the best way to assure their immediate survival, which was something that she considered a high priority. However, he Jedi training demanded that they help anyone the could aboard the ship, even if it meant putting themselves directly in harms way. "Alright. Let's take a look then. Hopefully we can get the door open with something..."

Together, they stepped toward the other side, its sparking lighting flickering for a moment as they rounded the corner and passed the divide. Both of them stopped cold when the saw a mutilated corpse lying against the workbench, the bloody scrawl just above it reading "Cut off their limbs!" The need to vomit hit Ethan with such a violent intensity that he nearly doubled over, but managed to contain himself. Tousa merely looked away, unable to stare at the corpse for more than a few seconds. "…I think we know now what happened to the crew…"

"Yeah. But at least there's a Cutter over here." Among the scattered tools and magazines that covered the workstation, a gold and green-gray tool sat prominently, as if it had been set there after recent use. Moving over to the bench and trying his best to keep his eyes averted from the dead crewman, Ethan picked up the pistol like mining tool and looked it over. It immediately powered up in his hand, showing six of ten charges remaining on its holographic display. Manually powering it down and opening its casing, Ethan took a screwdriver from the bench and began tuning the tool. Much to his surprise, it had already been reconfigured, if a bit crudely, to fire a much finer blast of plasma. Scrunching up his eyebrows in thought, he tried to find a reason for such changes. Realization dawned on him rather suddenly as he looked up again at the scrawled message. "My God…"

"What's wrong, Ethan?" Tousa asked, still keeping her vision away from the corpse at all costs.

"I think they were trying to fight those things using whatever they could find. This cutter's already tuned to fire like a blade instead of a blunt blast for mining… Were they really…?" Again, Ethan felt sick. If things had really gotten desperate enough to convert mining tools into lethal weapons, then Ethan and Tousa were already deep into hell. Whispering a thanks to the dead miner beside him, Ethan finished his own tunes and closed it back up, the Cutter powering up just as it had before. "Alright, I think I got it."

"Then let's get the door open. We need to find the others and get out of here, get some more help, and quick." Tousa moved quickly back to the other side, eager to get away from the corpse. Her own words sounded hollow to her thought; really, she just wanted to hear Master Fan-Kathen's reassuring voice again.

As he rounded the divider himself, Ethan raised the Cutter, its three targeting lasers springing up in the darkness along with its flashlight. Using the light, he inspected the circuit board to make sure he wouldn't be screwing anything up too bad by just blasting it. Though his knowledge of circuit board repair wasn't on par with Jenessa's, he still figured that it would open and close properly at the very least once he soldered it. Smiling inside his helmet, Ethan took aim for the sparking console and lined it up with his sights, having set the Cutter for a welding level of heat instead of 'fry to a crisp.' Just as he was about to pull the trigger he heard something which made him stop cold. It sounded like someone was crying, or perhaps laughing, but whatever it was sounded human. He looked at Tousa, who had tensed at the sound. He shrugged, not sure what to do.

Tousa took the lead, knocking on the door. "Hello?"

"Is… is somebody there?!" A voice cried out from the other side of the door. It was certainly male, but badly shaken. "Help me! Help me damn it, I can't open it! Get the damn door open they're coming…!" The voice descended into babbling, obviously crying on the other side without even a thought of shame.

Moved by pity and a need to save the man beyond the door, Tousa moved away from the door and nodded to Ethan. He raised the Cutter again, putting it almost directly on the circuit board before pulling the trigger. He felt it kick in his hand, the smell of hot molten metal filling the air as a hint of smoke poured out from the circuit board. The metal behind it had melted into it as the plasma heated it, filling the gap between the split. When Ethan looked over at the door, a flashing blue hologram had appeared, quickly stabilizing as the door began functioning again. "Alright, it's working!"

Without hesitating, he passed a hand through the hologram, and the door began to slide open with a hydraulic hiss. Just as it did however, the man on the other side let out a scream, flailing arms visible through the opening door as a creature attacked him. Before the door could even completely open, the man was lying limp on the deck, the monster above him covered in blood from its victim. Yet another electronic screech, followed by a flat line sounded off in Ethan's ears as he watched the creature's movements in horror. It turned its wretched head toward Ethan, lunging through the door while screaming wildly. Without even thinking, Ethan turned the Cutter on it, fear pushing him to fire it into the beast's face. It stopped dead in its tracks as the plasma cut through it, lopping off some tentacles along with part of its head. For a morbidly comical second, it twisted the remains of its face in confusion, as if considering what had just actually happened to it.

Tousa wasn't about to give it a chance to figure out what had happened to it, and finished it off with a high slash that removed it's head and one of it's arms. The creature stumbled, slumping against the divide. Unfortunately, even though it defied logic, it was still alive and kicking even after losing its head and came back up for another swipe with its remaining bladed appendage. It caught on the divide however, snagging its arm in the metal plating. Ethan moved around Tousa and blasted the limb caught limb off with his Cutter, somehow killing the creature in the process. It slumped to the floor, blood from its wounds and victims pooling under it.

Ethan lowered the Cutter slowly, letting it fall to his side as Tousa moved back. The door had closed again, but Ethan didn't feel safe anymore. In fact, he felt so sick he turned from the corpse, tore off his helmet and fell to his hands and knees, hurling his lunch onto the deck. He choked on the smell of dead and rotting flesh, throwing up again and again until it was only dry heaves. Tousa was also feeling sick, but managed to keep her food in her stomach, where it belonged. Turning off her lightsaber and clipping it to her waist, she knelt beside Ethan and placed a hand on his back. "Ethan…"

He coughed, and then looked up at her and away from the pool beneath him. "We tried… we tried to save him."

"Yes, we did." Tousa replied gingerly. She could see he was struggling with their failure to save the man beyond the door. She knew the feeling all to well. "Sometimes we try our best, but it's not enough. I'm sorry, Ethan."

"I know. I know, but these things… You cut its head off, and it still moved! What the f*** are they!?" He turned back, heaving again as his stomach rebelled against him. This wasn't the first time he'd seen blood, or watched a limb come flying off of a living body. Work accidents happened, after all. However, this was the first time he had seen a man die. The shock and horror he felt weighed down on him, increasing the tightness in his lungs. He closed his eyes as he pushed back, calming himself and breathing deep gulps of air. He was useless like this and he knew it. People were dying, and his team was in danger. That thought alone was enough to clear his head, especially when he remembered Jenessa. "…We can't stay here… we can't. We need to find Jenessa and Kinsley, and get back to Nother somehow."

"I agree, but are you sure you're alright?" She looked over him with a bit of motherly concern, which was somewhat out of character for her. Normally, if a man was acting in this manner during combat, she would have called him a coward and a weakling. Here however, with this one single engineer by her side, she supported him. Perhaps it was because her survival instincts were saying he was necessary, or maybe his actions thus far had swayed her in some way; she couldn't tell either way but it didn't matter at the moment. Here, in the dark, she was his ally.

Ethan grabbed his helmet off the floor and took a hand up from Tousa. "Yeah… I just hope that's the last of these things we see for a while."

Inside Shuttle One, Master Fan-Kathen sat in silence as two engineers worked diligently on getting the guidance system back online. Aside from him, the pilot, and the two workers, the shuttle played host to five heavily armed marines, their captain, and two CEC executives, one of which was fidgeting nervously. It was slightly harder to concentrate on his meditations with the man rapidly tapping his foot and shifting in his chair constantly, but still Fan-Kathen persisted. Though his sense of the force was very weak, ever since they had entered the Aegis system he had felt something… a slight disturbance in the Force. It had been almost imperceptible to him, but it was there, and growing. It was both on the surface of Aegis 7 below them, inside the planet, and also on the Ishimura. Frustrated at his own downfalls as a Jedi, he shook his head and turned to the executives.

Both men were clad in grey and gold RIGs, as symbols of their status. The fidgeting one, CEO Brigham Mattox, was portly with a balding head and a double chin which drooped noticeably. Wisps of white hair seemed to cloud around his ears, making his head appear wider than it really was. His deep set chocolate brown eyes jumped about the shuttle, often centering on the Jedi whom he was supposed to be negotiating with. The CEO had an incredibly weak mind, and more than once Fan-Kathen had swayed him away from offering ruinous sums of money, food, hookers and drugs to simply go home. Mattox was a Unitologist, a believer in the local religion of his home world. From what Fan-Kathen understood, the religion claimed that all life came from something called the 'Marker', but that was about all he knew about it. Beside Mattox was sat the chairman of CEC's board of directors, Lithan Tolman. Tall and handsome for his thirty-six years, Tolman had a look of steel in his eyes that belonged more to a combat veteran than a businessman. Deep brown hair folded down over his ears, aided by a slicked back hairstyle which seemed more appropriate on a teenager than a man, but he made it look good regardless. The sunglasses he constantly wore only furthered Fan-Kathen's feeling that he was an overgrown 'chick magnet' who reveled in his youth.

"Something wrong, Fan-Kathen?" Tolman asked when he noticed the Jedi staring at him.

"I just sensed something, down there on the planet, that's all." Fan-Kathen shrugged slightly, "I can't tell for certain, but it seems something's not right down there. I get the same feeling from the Ishimura… I'd advise caution once we get onboard."

"I highly doubt there's anything dangerous onboard my ship, sir." Mattox said with an almost visible edge to his voice.

"Now now, Mr. Mattox, no need to get so defensive. The Ishimura may be the pride of our fleet, but that doesn't mean bad things can't happen. If something is amiss –say she was raided perhaps- then it's certainly wise for us to use caution. There's one way to find out for certain though. Pilot, can you contact Shuttle Two?"

A reply of, "I'll try sir." came from the cockpit. A minute later, "Sir, I'm getting an SOS beacon from the shuttle, but no response to hails. I'm going to keep trying, but I don't think we'll be getting through to anyone if they all disembarked."

A long silence overwhelmed the shuttle. Fan-Kathen didn't look at Mattox, but he knew the man was fuming with rage now, and was directing it at him for being right. Tolman however was devising a course of action, and motioned for the lead Marine to approach him. "Captain Hammond, what would you advise us to do. We don't have much information, so we can't be sure what awaits us once we are underway."

Hammond, a tall and bald man who's figure alone was imposing, took a few seconds to think. "With the communication's array offline on this shuttle, we'll need to use the other Shuttle or the Ishimura to call for help unless we want to head home first, or find another starship in the immediate vicinity. I'm against landing on the Ishimura or the Colony since they've been out of contact for so long without any explanation, but finding another vessel this far out could be troublesome as well. In the end, it's up to you two to decide. I'm just here to guard you."

"Be that as it may, your advice is appreciated, commander." Tolman replied easily. "Honestly, if Mister Isaac and Miss Kendra can get us flying within the half-hour, I'd be glad to try and find another ship in system. It'd be better to do so, especially since the Ishimura's orbit is decaying. If they can't complete the repairs that soon however, we will need to land and try to save the ship ourselves; I won't let all those precious resources go to waste if we can help it."

"Agreed…" Mattox mumbled, his lip twitching up in a slight grin for a moment. Fan-Kathen grimaced in response. Something was wrong, and he got the feeling that they were going to dive into the middle of it.

Ethan opened the door carefully, sweeping the flashlight across the tram control room with a heavy sense of unease. He could clearly see the main tram computer in its case, seemingly untouched, as were the windows that gave a perfect view of the Tram station beyond. Tousa was behind him, lightsaber poised to slash anything that came at her in half. So far, they had seen another of the creatures in the hallway, but its path had been blocked by debris. Regardless, Tousa had smacked it around until its limbs began breaking, leaving it to die. While its obnoxious screams hadn't attracted any more unwelcome attention for the time being, both were on edge.

"Looks like this room's clear for now." Ethan sighed a bit, but remained tense. At the very least, he wouldn't be cutting anything up again in the immediate future. He moved in, still checking every corner with the light.

Tousa stepped in behind him, watching the door until it shut. She made note of several distinct features of the room. "Two wall vents. Not good, but at least we'll know where they're coming from. I'll watch them."

Ethan nodded as he looked out the windows, trying to see if anybody was there. He didn't see anybody on the other side, which made him worry. There weren't many areas that Kinsley and Jenessa could have gotten to aside from the Tram station, which left very few possibilities; most of which Ethan didn't want to consider. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a Pulse Gun firing and saw several wave of blood splash out from the Tram station's door. He dared hope that it was Kinsley taking down one of the beasts, and his hope was rewarded as he saw Kinsley and the thing he was fighting tumble onto the platform, Kinsley's gun pressed into its right shoulder. More rounds fired, somehow disconnecting one of its scythe arms as the other flailed about in a mad attempt to impale Kinsley. The creature's attempts were cut short when Jenessa also burst onto the scene, giving the other arm a good stomp to force it down. Another stomp later disconnected it, and a third crushed its head as Kinsley rolled away. Immediately he got up and pointed his rifle back at the door, then slowly lowered it to his side. Jenessa was visibly hyperventilating, her suit flexing with each breath.

Desperately, Ethan tried to get a shortwave com line open to them. When a sound-hologram popped up in his peripheral vision, he almost shouted to his companions. "Hey, Jenessa, Kinsley! Are you two okay?!"

"Ethan?" Kinsley looked over, across the tram line and into the control booth. "Ah, thank God you're alive man… What the f*** are these things? Are they the crew?"

"Don't … don't say that…" Jenessa's voice came over labored. She was obviously in shock, though she didn't appear to be injured in any visible way. "…These things… things…"

Even with her limited abilities, Tousa could sense the hysteria her friend was in. From across the bay, she called out to her. "Jenessa, calm down. It's me, Tousa. Listen to my voice. You are alright," she soothed, "and we're going to get out of here, all of us, together." She raised her free hand, gently using the Force to calm Jenessa as she slumped against the tram station wall. The engineer's breathing slowed as she continued to murmur comforting words, like a mother caressing her child. Again, to Ethan she seemed to be deeply caring, but Tousa herself couldn't decide the reason for her compassion.

Seeing that his partner was doing better now, Kinsley returned his attention to Ethan. "Alright, we need to get back to the shuttle, try and warn the others about this s*** before they try to park here. Is there anyway to remove the Quarantine?"

"Other than waiting those things out or going back and trying to kill them, no, not really." Ethan sighed heavily. Quarantines needed a command level access code to deactivate, which none of them had. And perhaps that was a good thing, as the quarantine might have blocked off any access the creatures had to the shuttle bay. A plan slowly formed in his head as he looked down at the tram control console. "We could try getting to the bridge, see what's going on there, but that'll take a minute. The tram is all the way at the other end of the ship, but it seems to be functional."

"Give it a call. In the mean time, I'll grab some ammo from the requisition store. Good thing I got a ton of credits from poker with…" Kinsley trailed off as he remembered what had happened to his fellow marines. Closing his eyes, he shook his head and walked over to the requisition center on the side of the station, its holographic 'Store' sign flickering a bit as it warmed up. "Nevermind. I just want to get the hell out of here."

As Kinsley punched in his order, Ethan set about calling the tram. It was good to get his attention off the situation with such a menial task, but just as he finished, he felt something behind him. He turned, only to see Tousa with her attention still on Jenessa and Kinsley, and the vent covers behind her spinning carelessly. "…Something's not right here."

"…What's up, Ethan?" Tousa asked, also turning her attention to the vents.

"I think there's something over there." He said, raising his Cutter. "In the ventilation shafts."

"S***…" Kinsley added as he grabbed several clips from the dispenser, attaching them to his belt. "How can you tell, man? These f***ers come from everywhere!"

"Call it a feeling." At those words, Tousa focused her eyes on the man beside her. Could he be Force sensitive? She couldn't tell, but it was certainly a possibility.

Ethan said as he took two steps toward the vent. He checked the charge on his Cutter, which was down to three, and hesitated. He only had two more plasma packs on him, which he had pilfered from the store room, but reloading his 'weapon' regardless seemed like a wise idea. He ejected the three shot cartridge and pocketed it, slipping in a full one and watching its charge counter race up to ten. A bit surer of himself, he took another step toward one of the vents and aimed his cutter for the circular fan embedded in it.

"Ethan, is that a f***ing Cutter?!" Jenessa almost shouted over the com. She was up again, staring across the gap and sounding incredibly disturbed by his tool.

Ethan didn't answer. Instead, he pulled the trigger when he felt the horrid feeling suddenly pulse, the plasma round tearing through the vent and causing something beyond it to shout in pain. Ethan scrambled back as whatever was behind the vent lashed out, smashing through the vent cover and racing toward him. Tousa stopped it cold with a Force push, which sent it toppling back into the vent shaft, the sound of its scythes trying to find a hold as it slid down echoing up the shaft. Another burst out from the other vent a moment later, earning it a cutter shot to the right leg as Ethan brought his Cutter to bear. With a sickening slicing sound, the creature lost its leg and fell to the ground screaming. Tousa closed in on it with vicious intent, slicing off one of its arms as the creature tried to use it as an improvised leg. It screamed incoherently again, sweeping at Tousa with its remaining arm and catching her in the leg. She started to topple, but turned the momentum into a back flip out of the creature's range. When she landed, she noticed a third and a fourth abomination climbing out of the vents. She managed to push one of them back into the vent, but the other took a flying leap at Ethan before she could react. His own reaction was surprisingly well timed, as he brought his Cutter up and fired just as it began to bring it's blades down. The beast jabbered madly as its held fell backward, the plasma shot having cut through most of the neck, leaving the head dangling by threads of flesh. The wound, as gruesome as it was, didn't kill it however, and it took a swipe at Ethan that would have returned the favor if he hadn't ducked.

"S***, we've got to do something!" Jenessa looked around, desperately looking for a way across.

"Like what?" Kinsley shouted incredulously. Their crewmate and friend were under attack; however there was no way across, and no opening to get into the room even if they could cross the chasm between them. "What the hell could you do, anyway?! You aren't even armed!"

That froze Jenessa in place. How was she supposed to fight anyway? Getting close to the creatures that were assaulting them was close to suicide… Then an idea struck. She ran to the store and jammed her credit slip into it, quickly surfing through the menu. All the while, the din of combat continued to sound dimly through the panes of Plexiglas. Tousa had finished off her first foe, having finished it off by disconnecting it's remaining arm, while Ethan had dismembered his own and was currently stomping a third into submission. One of the creatures Tousa had pushed into the vent shaft had managed to claw its way back up, and was looking out hungrily at her as it flopped out onto the deck. One of its arms was horribly mangled and bleeding profusely, probably from having it caught in something as it fell. As it struggled to stand, she noticed something was different about this particular creature; it was wearing the remains of a RIG.

"Oh God…" A sense of disgust and pity flowed through her, motivating her to strike before it could get a firm footing for attack. She lopped its arm and head off in a single swipe, rotating her body and bringing it low for a second fluid swing of her blade that disconnected its legs. The torso toppled to the floor, once again lifeless. The room was quite again for a long moment, and then Tousa turned to Ethan with venom in her voice. "These _things_… are definitely the crew of the Ishimura. Look, this one was wearing a RIG…"

Ethan moved to inspect the corpse, bile rising in his throat again. He knew he'd have to get used to this sort of thing if they remained aboard much longer, but this sort of thing was still highly unsettling to him. After looking it over, he could see for sure that it was indeed wearing a RIG. "Oh, f*** me… There were over a thousand people onboard this ship, not including kids and infants. What the hell happened to these guys?!"

"I don't know… and honestly I'd rather not know what could do this to a human body." She felt the urge to vomit rising up again, but she suppressed it. Her training wouldn't allow for such a disgraceful showing, though a part of her knew that at the moment dignity was the least of her worries.

"Wait, what's going on over there?! Are you sure it's the crew?" Kinsley asked with obvious concern in his voice. If there had been that many people aboard the ship, and they had all been turned into these creatures, the odds were against them by a landslide in his estimation. "What the f*** man. This is way over our heads. We got to get the f*** out of here before these things kill us!"

Ethan shook his head fiercely as he pulled the torso closer to him and away from the vent. "Kinsley, calm down, you idiot. Panicking won't solve anything!"

The marine almost launched into a series of insults, but stopped short. His head felt fuzzy now, from the adrenaline he figured. "You're right… sorry. This s*** is getting to me though."

"You aren't the only one, Kinsley." Jenessa too was feeling a bit under the weather again. She wasn't panicking though, as now she had ideas to work with. She smiled as best she could when the store produced four small items and a large square device. "Still, I think I just increased our odds substantially."

"What's up, Jenessa?" Tousa asked as she watched Ethan mess with the corpse's RIG interface. It seemed he was quickly adapting to the horror of the ship, which was a double edged sword.

"Just get down. This is going to be loud and extremely dangerous if you're upright."

"What?!" Tousa turned, and saw that her friend was holding a large box that suddenly flipped open to reveal a large plasma array of some sort. Eyes wide, she ducked. "What the hell are you trying to do, Jenessa?"

"Break a few windows, of course." She pulled the Line gun's trigger, sending a wide wave of plasma into two of the windows and completely blowing them apart with the force of the attack. The gun closed up as she lowered it, setting it on the ground. "Sorry about that Tousa, didn't mean to freak you out!"

"A little hard to avoid that when I don't know what you're doing…" Standing up hesitantly, the Jedi Padawan looked to the windows with a mix of curiosity and worry.

Ethan too had been rattled by the sudden noise and Plexiglas explosion. "So what the hell was that all about, Jenessa?"

"Let me just say it's a good thing they keep the ships inventory system completely connected, so we can order anything from anywhere. Ethan, I snagged you a Kinesis and Stasis Module, as well as a pair for myself!" She lifted the two items via her own Kinesis, shooting the modules through the now open windows.

They clattered on the metal decks, bouncing off the wall and rolling to Tousa's feet. She picked them up gingerly, turning them over in her free hand. "Just what are these supposed to do?"

Ethan stood to retrieve them from her, but his hand slipped inside of the chest mounted RIG display and accidentally triggered the suits audio logs. A secondary audio transmission popped up in each of their helmets, a voice reaching out to them from the deceased crewman's RIG. Tousa and Ethan both jumped when the recording started. "This is Leon, Benson got hit by one of those things when it came out of the vents. Poor bastard didn't stand a chance. Everybody, watch the vents and use anything you can to cut these things up… It doesn't matter what you use, just kill them before they kill you! Head and body shots are useless, so don't waste ammo. We're going to get to the damn flight deck even if it …Frank, what are you doing with that Ripper? Frank? Frank?!"

The sound of a saw blade meeting flesh filled the air, along with various cries for help. One scream in particular caught Ethan's attention though. "F***ing crazy Unitologist!" seemed to be one man's mantra as the recording continued, until it finally, mercifully stopped.

"… We are so f***ed." Kinsley whispered hoarsely.

Ethan was shaking slightly. He took the modules from Tousa without a word and began installing them in his RIG. People had died. People were probably still dying, and probably would die in short order. He had to keep a cool head if he wanted to keep it at all, but it wasn't easy after discovering a friend of yours was dead. 'Leon… goddamnit. Two years in the academy together, and now this?'

And a part of him realized that he had probably just dismembered his friend's corpse. That little part didn't share its knowledge with the rest of his brain for the moment, instead focusing on the sound of a tram rapidly approaching, and the Ishimura's computer announcing that the Quarantine had been lifted. The first two bits of good news the group had heard since they arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews, everyone. You know who you are. I should be writing on my essays, but I couldn't get this off my mind. Hopefully getting it up and over with will free up enough space in my head to let me finish what I need to do in order to survive. I kinda wish I could put up the banner I made for this when I was first starting, but the site doesn't quite allow for it. Regardless, enjoy.

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4.

Heavy footfalls echoed in the Ishimura's hallways. Jenessa swept the hallway with her Line Gun's mounted flashlight, heavy breaths accompanying a bleeding side. The wound wouldn't kill her outright, but it was enough to make her cry out in pain when she twisted her torso. She attempted to minimize her movements as she and Kinsley tried to return to the docking bay, if only to keep herself from crying out with every step. To his credit, Kinsley was letting her take the lead and set the pace instead of forging on ahead as the marine normally would have. At the same time however his Pulse Rifle was much easier to reload if worst came to worst, and indeed the worst had come. Jenessa's bleeding side was proof enough of that, and the creature that had done it was a further embellishment of the fact.

"Ugh!" Stumbling, Jenessa balanced herself against wall for a moment as the pain shot through her body, more blood pouring from her side. She almost placed a hand over it to staunch the bleeding but, having touched one of the creatures earlier, she refused to. Even the slightest chance of contamination was enough to send shivers down her spine. With a moan, she pushed off the wall and moved into the flight lounge. The door panel slid open at her command, revealing a waiting Tousa and Ethan on the other side. She sighed in relief, nodding to her friends. "Glad to see some friendly faces…"

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Ethan agreed, his eyes locking on her side. "You alright there?"

"It looks worse than it really is," she half lied, "and we can always patch it up once we get the hell off this ship."

"I just hope Nother's alright…" Kinsley backed through the door, rifle still aimed at the hallway until he was completely inside and the door closed. When he was sure that nothing was going to rip the door down, he turned toward the others.

"Yes. We'd better hurry." Tousa nodded resolutely, heading straight for the door to the shuttle bay. The others filed in behind her, Kinsley again taking up the rear. He stopped as they were about to open the door, taking a good look at the lounge again.

"…Oh s***…" He started, looking around the room frantically.

Ethan was the first to respond, having turned around as well. He didn't see anything wrong however. "What's the hold up?"

"They're missing, man. My squad." he gestured toward the room, having wanted to bring their remains for a proper burial. "Their bodies are missing… " Realization finally dawned on him when he noticed the Pulse Rifles lying on the ground. Dead men didn't get up, and living men wouldn't have left their weapons on the floor. "Not good. Not f***ing good. Go, damn it, go!"

Almost physically shoving them through the door, Kinsley hurried them through the door and into the hanger. He passed them all in a violent hurry, running full tilt down the long walkway to the shuttle. He had almost made it there when he heard something screaming, and slowed as he spied a creature crawling up over the rails. Kinsley opened up with his rifle to his shoulder, ripping off one of its arms as the rounds tore into its fleshy frame. The monster would not be stopped however, and vaulted over the railings as it closed the space between itself and the marine.

"Kinsley!" Ethan shouted as he let fly a Cutter round, striking it dead center in the chest. It stopped the beast cold, leaving its attention divided between the two men. Kinsley didn't let the opportunity go to waste, as the marine slammed the butt of his rifle into the skull, crushing it. A second swing of the rifle toppled the creature over the railing and back into the loading area below. Kinsley turned back toward the shuttle but had barely taken a step before another creature came rocketing up and at his face. Unlike the humanoid slasher type creatures, this one had a powerful set of jaws and a whip like tail –the former of which had clamped down on Kinsley's screaming face like a vice as it tried to tear his head off, man and creature slamming to the ground with man unfortunately on the bottom.

Before the creature could decapitate the unlucky marine, a wave from Jenessa's line gun clipped off its arms and tail, surprisingly causing the creature to go limp on top of him. He shoved it off of him with a curse, kicking it as he got up. The faceplate of his helmet had been cracked by its powerful jaws, creating a web effect from where one of the teeth had started digging in. "What the f***?!"

"I don't think we're going to get to the shuttle… and it doesn't look like Nother's in there anymore." Ethan said wearily as he stood beside Kinsley, his cutter's flashlight illuminating a horribly bloodied cockpit. He shuddered visibly, swinging the light away and into the depths below. "And there are a lot more of those creatures in here!"

Skittering and screaming sounds below them confirmed it, as did another of the slasher types crawling up from the loading deck. "I've got this one." Tousa said wearily, flinging her lightsaber at it. With deadly efficiency it sliced the creature in half, leaving its legs tangled in the railing as the torso fell. Much to Jenessa's surprise, the lightsaber swirled back into the Padawan's palm as if it had never left it. "So what do we do now? I vote against saying here."

Another white hot flash of pain hit Jenessa's side, causing her to moan and almost stumble yet again as she began stepping back toward the quarantine area. The dizziness from her continual blood loss –which was more than even she had expected- wasn't helping matters either. "I-I second that…"

"Majority wins, let's move!" Ethan shouted suddenly as he ducked, firing his plasma cutter into the air as another of the leapers vaulted over the railing. It writhed in pain as it hit the deck, having missed Ethan be mere inches, but it was still moving and still ready for blood. More of the creatures were climbing up the railings, trying to surround the humans before they could escape. From the midpoint of the deck, either direction was becoming equally hazardous, and neither side guaranteed safety. Ethan decided for the group, suddenly charging for the halls of the Ishimura with is Cutter firing as quickly as it could. By no means were his shots well aimed, but they did manage to distract several of the creatures as he rushed them.

Tousa was quick to join him, her violet blade cutting down a creature that let itself become too focused on the engineer. Kinsley and Jenessa were following their companions, Kinsley pumping rounds into anything around them that was no longer human while Jenessa limped along, taking the legs off anything that tried to get close. The swarm was increasing with every moment however, and ammunition had already begun to run low. By the time Ethan reached the door he was down to just two shots in his Cutter's reserves, and he was sure that there would be more encounters with the creatures if they managed to survive this one. A river of worry and fear threatened to overtake him, but seeing the Jedi by his side gave him a good deal of hope. As he opened the door to the flight lounge, he thrust the Cutter in and checked for signs of the monstrosities. When nothing leapt out at him, Tousa moved past him and checked the room out herself as the others backed in behind her, Jenessa firing a timed explosive from her weapon before letting the door close behind her. A muffled boom and a chorus of screams were heard before everything on the other side went silent.

"Can't stay here!" Kinsley said tersely as he eyed the open vents. "Let's get to the tram. There's a chance that somebody's still alive somewhere on this ship and can tell us what the hell happened… maybe they know a way out of here, too."

"Yeah, we're not getting out of here in the shuttle, that's for sure." Ethan agreed as he took the lead, stopping to holster his Cutter and pick up one of the fallen rifles that remained in the room. He checked it over before he looked to Kinsley for guidance. "…Sorry, I'm not too familiar with these."

The marine hesitated as the girls passed them, Jenessa loading the last of her line racks. He almost said something, but thought better of it and nodded to the engineer. "Just pull the trigger. Secondary trigger in front fires the sweep. Hits everything in a circle around you, so duck and hold it up. Try to give some warning to us though. Reload here," He tapped on his own rifle, letting the half empty clip out before he slammed it back in, "and aim carefully. That's all you need to know."

"Thanks." Ethan hefted the rifle and followed in the rear with Kinsley, feeling a bit more confident for having an actual gun. Though, thinking on it as they walked cautiously to the tram, hadn't the Ishimura's security team had pulse rifles? He almost let himself despair then, coming to the conclusion that the rifle might not be all that useful in the first place. He knew that enough rounds in the right places would down a creature however, as Kinsley had shown in the hanger; that was enough to keep the engineer going for the moment. They moved into the hallway between the cargo area elevator and the tram elevator, stopping at the door as Tousa opened it.

"So, what's the plan?" Tousa said as she deactivated her saber and stepped into the elevator. She squeezed into a corner, giving more room for the other three occupants. She still didn't feel completely comfortable around Kinsley, regardless of the situation, and the cramped space only made things worse.

"Um…" This time, Jenessa did stumble as she stepped into the elevator, crying out as she collapsed into Tousa and dropped the Line Gun. In all the hurry of their escape and the general darkness of the hallway, nobody had taken the time to look at her wound in detail. In the brightly lit elevator however, nobody could miss the blood that was running down her side like a flood.

"Jenessa! Why the hell didn't you say anything!?" Ethan almost shoved Kinsley out of the way as he got in, gazing in worry at the bloody mess that was his friend. The marine moved in behind him, a bit crowded into the corner as Tousa laid the woman down on the floor and pulled her fully in. The sudden shift of the elevator traveling down caused her to whimper, but soon enough she'd recovered herself enough to sit up.

"S-sorry… didn't want to worry you guys…" She grinned sheepishly behind her helmet, giving a light shrug as the elevator ticked down to its destination.

Kinsley could only shake his head at the sight. "F***… most guys would have passed out already from so much blood loss. Why didn't you join the marines, girl?" He chuckled lightly, trying to lighten the mood. The joke went unanswered however, making him feel all the more uncomfortable. "Look, we gotta get her to medical. There's got to be some supplies there that we can use."

"Right. We'll make that our first stop." Ethan tapped his helmet lightly. "Good thinking Kinsley."

"Actually, I wasn't thinking all of us, honestly…" Kinsley sighed worriedly. "As much of a suicide move as it seems, I think you and Tousa should get to the bridge ASAP."

Ethan stood up abruptly, almost smacking Tousa with the rifle as he stood. "What?! Why the hell for?"

"Think about it, Ethan." Kinsley yelled as the elevator halted, lowering his voice as the doors opened. "The bridge is probably the most well defended part of the ship. I know they keep at least three PSEC guys on duty up there, which is a whole lot more than what the rest of the ship gets on a good day. If people were going to gather, I'd place my bets that it would be there, and not in the crew quarters. If any place on this ship is going to be safe, if that word can even apply to anywhere on this damn ghost ship, it's going to be the damn bridge." The door began closing, but Kinsley slammed his rifle against it, holding it open. "I'll take Jenessa to medical myself and get her patched up as best I can. I'm the only one here with extensive medical training, and I damn well know that I'm the best fighter here aside from the Jedi."

"So you want to make sure we survive," Tousa said as she helped Jenessa to her feet, "and put as few people in harms way as possible. It makes sense, but I don't like it."

"Well, forgive me for not taking your opinion into account." Kinsley jerked his head toward the doorway, motioning for them to move. Nobody did. "At the moment, my job is still the same as it was when we got here; make sure you're safe and that nothing bad happens. Sorry that I blew the second part of that, but these creepy mother f***ers didn't give me much choice. Ethan was only in command because this was a CEC operation at the start. With these things trying to crawl up our asses, I'd have to say that this is my jurisdiction, which puts me in charge."

"Kinsley…" Jenessa looked at him with a mixture of shock and pain. She had never heard him like this, and it scared her. The engineer turned to Ethan, who was still staring hard at the marine before him. She knew what Kinsley was saying was true, that when a situation turned hostile any military figure of suitable rank could take command if they saw fit, but she still didn't like the idea of separating.

Ethan never looked away from Kinsley, even when the elevator dinged and the Ishimura's computer announced that there was a blockage in the elevator, and that a repair crew should be notified. Finally, he sighed. "Have it your way, then… I think your making a mistake, but I can't really say no to a man with a gun, now can I?"

"Look in your own hands before talking, dumbass." He knew Ethan had meant the last part as a joke, but Kinsley didn't feel it. In fact, he didn't feel much of anything aside from cold fear. He knew what he was proposing was something of an indirect suicide, but that wasn't going to stop him. If he could help Jenessa, he didn't care what happened to him. And in his head, it didn't seem like too bad a plan. Even if the bridge wasn't safe, at least Ethan could look up what had happened on the ship, maybe even call for help in the event that somebody had fixed the communications array. Kinsley led the way, walking out onto the tram platform with the same false confidence that had been carrying him since his team had died.

* * *

The tram departed from the station with a high pitched whistle of steel and electromagnetic forces hard at work. Unbeknownst to the survivors of shuttle two, another living human had been watching them from afar throughout their entire ordeal. Through security cameras routed into his safe room, he saw their valiant attempts to survive in the face of terrible odds and horrors from the darkest corners of the imagination. Had it been any other group, he would have simply shaken his head in dismay. Life on the doomed Ishimura as humans knew it was destined to end within a few hours. And yet, the one who wielded the violet blade with such skill had piqued his interest; a faint light of hope in a dark and deadly world. The only question that remained was if it would be snuffed out, or if it would persist long enough to illuminate the darkest depths of hell…


End file.
